Rockport's sign bylaw rewrite waits on the state; the bylaw committee says the Planning Board's lighting rules are not ready for town meeting

Rockport's rewrite of its sign rules is nearly done, but the town is waiting to hear whether the state thinks it holds up. The Government and By-Law Committee went through its redrafted sign bylaw and a new stand alone bylaw for outdoor displays of goods at a short Zoom meeting on Monday, Oct. 26, and decided to vote on both at a later meeting.

Three members met: Chair Sheila Becker, Lori Kaiser and William Sclafani. The committee has one open seat.

What happened

• The sign bylaw now has four changes from the Sept. 29 public hearing, including murals in the definition of a sign and a plain rule that no sign may move by mechanical means. No vote yet: town counsel is waiting on the Attorney General's office.
• The rules for outdoor displays of goods are being split into their own bylaw. The committee plans to recommend that every display and sign permit from the Select Board be revocable with advance notice.
• Members raised cost, enforcement and ownership questions about the Planning Board's draft outdoor lighting bylaw and said it is not ready for the spring town meeting without a joint effort with the Select Board and the DPW.
• The next meetings are Monday, Nov. 30, and Monday, Dec. 14.

The sign bylaw, almost there

Becker said she rewrote the draft after the Sept. 29 hearing at the library to make four changes. Murals are now included in the definition of a sign, but murals that are public art and not promoting a business are excluded. The ban on moving signs now reads that no sign shall move by mechanical means, so flags are allowed, which she said the building inspector confirmed matches how he enforces the rule today. The draft makes clear that signs on and off premises that need a permit include those on Bearskin Neck. And enforcement is spelled out as the building inspector's job under the town's code of bylaws.

The town administrator said town counsel had not yet heard back from the Attorney General's office on whether the draft's removal of content based restrictions passes muster. Becker said she wants that answer before the committee votes. "That was a long, arduous process," she said of the sign bylaw.

At town counsel's suggestion, the rules on outdoor display of goods were taken out of the sign bylaw and made a separate bylaw. Sclafani said the draft carries the same intent as the current Chapter 279 rules, just clearer and on its own. It would require a Select Board permit for any outdoor display, with findings that the display is stationary, not lit, not moving and not a hazard to people on foot or in cars, plus an insurance certificate for displays on public property. The committee plans to vote on both bylaws together.

Lighting rules: too many open questions

The Planning Board sent the committee a draft lighting bylaw in August. As Becker summarized it, the Planning Board believes the current nonresidential lighting rules in the zoning bylaw cannot be enforced, because they would require someone to measure light at night, and conflict with the residential lighting rules in the general bylaw on mixed use properties. The draft would strike the zoning rules and apply the residential standard to everyone: existing fixtures capped at 3,000 kelvins, replacements at 2,750, and floodlights shielded so they do not shine on neighbors. The building inspector told her he has concerns about enforcing it on Bearskin Neck, where buildings sit close together.

Kaiser said she is not against less light, but the town has not done the homework. A few years ago the cost to replace the town's streetlights came up at about $430,000, she said, and a grant idea fell apart because the town would have had to put up the money. The town administrator said National Grid owns the streetlights and its replacement program offers only 3,000 or 4,000 kelvin fixtures, which the Select Board turned down, and that a closer look at next steps is likely coming. Kaiser also pointed to downtown businesses with floodlights that would be out of compliance, the old style gas lamp fixtures downtown, the historic district's own views on lighting, and the draft's undefined "temporary holiday lights."

Becker agreed the draft as written would cover the town's own lights and said it is not clear the town can tell National Grid what to install. She will take the committee's questions to the Planning Board and try to attend its next meeting. Kaiser asked that the Select Board and the DPW say whether they are on board before the committee takes the bylaw further.

A Granite Street resident, speaking during public comment, said the committee should hold a joint meeting with the Planning Board rather than decide without it, and repeated his objection to a sign bylaw that leaves most decisions to the Select Board with no public notice to neighbors.

What was decided

• Approve the minutes of July 27: two in favor, one abstaining, from the meeting video.
• Approve the minutes of the Sept. 29 public hearing: 3 to 0, from the meeting video.
• No votes on the sign bylaw, the display of goods bylaw or the lighting bylaw.

What happens next

• Town counsel is waiting for the Attorney General's office on the sign bylaw draft. The committee expects to vote on the sign and display of goods bylaws together, possibly at its Nov. 30 meeting.
• Becker will bring the committee's lighting questions to the Planning Board.
• The Historical Commission plans to ask the committee for a general bylaw change raising its membership from five back to seven.
• Monday, Nov. 30, 4 p.m. and Monday, Dec. 14, 4 p.m.: next committee meetings, on Zoom. Check the Agendas page.

Where to find the records

• Agenda for the Oct. 26 meeting.
• Recorded Zoom meetings, where the town posts the recording. Minutes will be posted in the town's document portal.
• Town Government and Bylaw Committee page, with members.

Earlier coverage: Meetings the week of Oct. 26 (Oct. 25), the week's calendar.

How we did this: Cape Ann Current watched the meeting online on the town's recording. Votes are as heard on the recording and are labeled from the meeting video until the committee's minutes confirm them. These are our meeting notes, not the committee's minutes.